Heyward House Restoration Project

http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=10750

Slave Cabin Refurbishment: Update 1:BHPS is one step closer to the complete restoration of the slave cabinon the grounds of the Heyward House Historic Center. The outbuilding isoriginal to the property and has become an important part of theinterpretation of the Heyward House. It is therefore a priority of theSociety to ensure that the Cabin is an accurate portrayal of a typicalslave dwelling in the early 1840’s.

The building has undergone many restoration projects; includingstabilizing the foundation, replacing the exterior shutters and theaddition of historically appropriate interior furnishings andartifacts. The Local Lowcountry Quester Group has been activelyinvolved in interpretation of the slave quarters. Furniture and itemsfor the cabin have been acquired or built and a small herb garden hasbeen designed and planted next to the cabin. Special thanks to: Jeanand Bob Allen for the bed and articles of clothing, Fran and DonTrascus for the herb garden, and Don Cramer for the cradle.

Update 2: A recent preservation action was taken by theHeyward House Historic Center in efforts to stop further weatheringdamages to the walls of the slave cabin. The north facing wall(pictured here) contains a small cut out that is belived to have been asmoke outlet for a wood buring stove. While this cut out is nowcovered, water still managed to get in through the small gaps in thecover causeing underlying water damage to the entire wall. We recentlyhad these boards replaced at which point the cabin was repainted andprimed to prevent any future damages from occuring.

In addition, a set of stairs was added to the cabin with a partialhand rail to make the cabin more accessible for all of our visitors.The stairs did not alter the sturcture of the building as it is aremovable addition. Both the newer paint and stairs are mentioned onour house tour as not being tradtional but a large effort to preservethis vital treasure of Bluffton. Thank you Glenn Burkart for yourwonderful work on keeping the cabin walls athentic looking, David Prattfor the amazing looking paint job and last but not least the Town ofBluffton for your support both finacial and moral.

Rear Roof Replacement: Thanks to Hargray's Caring Coins grantwe were able to replace the roof during the fall. This will stop waterinfiltration in its tracks and end a serious threat to housestabilization. The Roof found on the slave cabin was a tin roof.Although this typical of a more common southern home, it is still notconsidered historic. The original roof would have been cedar shakes.The tin roofs were added in during the early 1900's. Due to fire andweathering the tin was easier to care for. We have a reproduction ofthe original roof now on the cabin to make it more historicallyaccurate.